First Look: Per Se's $65 Five Course Dessert Tasting

It's sort of like a dream come true isn't it? Five courses of plated dessert (not to mention sweet amuses and mignardise), from Pastry Chef Elwyn Boyles. Per Se's recently launched $65 dessert tasting menu is served exclusively in the Salon, which means that you can walk in on a whim any day of the week to indulge. And what a way to go. The menu changes frequently, incorporating both classic Per Se favorites (hello, "Coffee and Doughnuts") along with new, inventive numbers.

Chef Boyles structured the the experience to mimic the traditional Per Se tasting menu—that means you'll start with tiny ice cream scoops dipped in caramelized white chocolate (in place of warm gougères) and pineapple cornets (a sweet nod to the famous salmon cornets) before moving onto the "main courses." They're a parade of desserts, each one thoughtfully balanced so that you won't come crashing down from a sugar high hours later. You finish with a little tower of mignardises, which puts my favorite nougats in town alongside bonbons and caramels. You can skip dinner with this menu.

Don't forget that dessert is also served a la carte in the Salon, with some menu items overlapping with those on the tasting menu. I'd take that over a cocktail any day.

Per Se

About the author: Originally from Honolulu, Kathy YL Chan blogs at Kathy YL Chan, where she chronicles her eats and travel adventures between Hawai'i, New York and beyond. She firmly believes that there is always room for dessert.

Previewing your comment:

HTML Hints

Comment Guidelines

Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more in the Comment Policy section of our Terms of Use page.